Comeuppance
by SkippingThrough
Summary: Between learning to endure and fighting for their lives, they look back at the childhoods they never really had. Team Seven-centric.
1. Kakashi

He was born to the frantic beeping of machinery and a swarm of med-nin with more important priorities than calming the screaming newborn. After being loosely wrapped in a blanket, the child was almost immediately handed off to his distraught father.

The man stopped his agitated pacing and looked over his son's pudgy features, before snapping his head up as the heart monitor suddenly flat-lined.

The rest of his day was spent being jostled in the arms of a grieving husband as he filled out paperwork for the baby and forms for the funeral arrangements. Between the many piles of mind-numbing work and calming a panicky newborn, the White Fang of Konoha absentmindedly scrawled "Hatake Kakashi" on the birth certificate before setting the paper aside for the next document.

* * *

By the time Kakashi was old enough to semi-steadily toddle through the Hatake compound on his own two feet, he was already considered a bit of a genius.

"It's all in the genes." His father bragged to the occasional visitor of the two-person household. Omitting the fact that between the many high level missions he took on a regular basis, Sakumo also taught took advantage of Kakashi's intellect to teach his son vital skills and tricks to surviving ninja life.

(possibly more than anyone else, he was well aware of the dangers that came with having a famous ninja for a relative)

* * *

Kakashi thrived off of his father's approval. He was his hero and idol - one who occasionally came down from his unreachable position at the top, and passed down his well-earned knowledge to his son, despite the many mistakes Kakashi made while learning.

Which is why it came as such a surprise when his father returned home from the storm of missions and ninja life, choosing to remain in the eye of the hurricane with Kakashi, rather than answer his call to arms.

Those days, the silence in the Hatake compound grew into a tangible thing that could be felt deep in his bones. The only reminder of the presence of another person were the glimpses of pale hair that flashed mockingly from around corners.

* * *

Following his usual schedule, Kakashi jogged home after another dull day attending the Academy. He ignored the stares fromcivilians and ninja alike and slammed open the gate leading to the Hatake compound.

With his keen nose, Kakashi followed the smell of rust into another one of the rarely used rooms in the house. The library door was propped open, and he hesitated before walking in, only to see the unmoving body sprawled in the middle of the hardwood floor. Blood from the tanto protruding out of his abdomen had already soaked into his clothing and left stains on the flooring.

 _-his father was-_

 _-his father had-_

Kakashi stared numbly at the scene, carefully regulating his breathing, while his world crumbled and burned like so many of the target dummies he regularly destroyed during training sessions.

Eventually, a few patrolling ANBU, sensing the strange fluctuations in his chakra signature, came in and dispatched a few clones before collecting the body.

Kakashi was left kneeling in the library, where he continued regulating his breathing and looking blankly at the dried puddles of blood. The rust had long seeped into the floor-boards.

* * *

The first time Kakashi went outside for errands (after putting off the inevitable for several weeks) he returned to the familiar compound within the span of several minutes and vomited directly into the sink. Without his father as a shield, the piercing stares were much harder to ignore.

He couldn't help but remember the swords those people - strangers, really - casually entered into his heart with each suspicious look and offhand comment concerning his father's current status.

(he tried very hard not to think that word they tended to repeat over and over again: _dead_ )

 _(it didn't work very well)_

* * *

But above all, Kakashi was a prodigy. Skilled, talented, and used to exceeding his own limits - let alone those that unimportant strangers imposed upon him. Kakashi chose to be swift as lightning, crackling with untamed energy, and an undercurrent of wild need.

Though they mocked him and whispered ( _"You'll end up worse than that coward Sakumo, that traitor."_ ) he took those words into his shrinking heart and imprinted them upon his skin. Kakashi used the insults they threw at him and ran farther with them, turning sharp words into sharper blades, honing them to a deadly point.

And the deaths that cycled on repeat in his head and the cuts he received from freshly sharpened kunai and shuriken and a few of the enemy-nin that managed to get past the on-duty guards never quite reached as bone-deep as those stabbing remarks.

Because no matter what Kakashi did, that disgusted look never left the eyes of strangers _who shouldn't even matter_ -

* * *

At the tender age of five (less than a year after his father's death), Kakashi traded in his simple title of Academy student for an official Konoha headband and the newly-received rank of genin.

The confirmation of his official ninja status satisfied him only momentarily. This was only the first of a series of steps to be taken. As long as Kakashi lived by the Shinobi Rules:

He would serve the village to his greatest capacity.

He would improve and grow in strength and power.

He would not end up a part of his father's disgraced, failed legacy.

He would not be a coward, relying on others to stop his fall.

Because he was _nothing like him_ and _never would be._

* * *

 **We'll call this piece how to screw up Kakashi's characterization 101 (this wasn't even meant to give me as much trouble as it did, but finally! this chapter is done and i'm so happy)**

 **Thanks for reading :)** **Reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	2. Sakura

She was born, curiously enough, in the early hours of the morning, during an intense rainstorm that rattled the hospital windows and ushered in the strong desire to be away from the piercing droplets and wind. With her murky blue eyes - which would eventually mature into a sparkling green, and tufts of pale pink hair matching her skin-tone, she was a gorgeous baby.

The father declared her a cherry blossom and insisted she be named such, while the mother agreed, fondly enduring her husband's good humor. The happy couple claimed that the gods must have blessed them with such a darling child: their own little Sakura.

And much like her namesake, she swept through life, flitting through the changing winds and following whichever gale was strongest. Sakura gave her love freely and with the ease of a trusting child. Her smiles and laughter floated into the wind and she rose along with them, content and in love with what the world had to offer.

* * *

Then, one day, she came home with the remnants of tears in her eyes and a shattered heart at her feet. Sakura ducked her head and buried herself, not venturing far from her precious books and scrolls. She lost herself in the words of others and nearly forgot how to use her own.

In her attempt to distance herself, Sakura fell in love with the many tales she read featuring strong ninja defending themselves from their attackers. She day-dreamed and wondered about all the theoretical what-ifs and maybe's, and what having that sort of strength would mean to her. So in a sudden burst of emotion, after so much time spent ducking her head and looking down, she looked her mother in the eye and demanded to join the Academy.

* * *

Despite being surrounded by peers in her age-group and enduring months of her parents' worrying, she remained in a state of constant quiet, and preferred solitude and the company of her books over her classmates. Sakura stayed withdrawn and shy, a pale shadow of the happy child she once was.

What they didn't know is that every night, during bedtime, she tucked herself under the covers, curled up her entire body into a little ball, and _drifted._ Then, when she inevitably got pulled back by a familiar-but-different voice, she happily continued the previous night's conversation with the little girl who lived in her head.

Sakura fully acknowledged that this wasn't normal behavior - she could recite several paragraphs from different books that explained how _not-normal_ this kind of thing was. But she really didn't want to worry her parents any more.

( _And she was a big girl, now. She couldn't be expected to tell them everything, all the time.)_

* * *

Just as suddenly, her parents came home to find her waltzing through the kitchen, a red ribbon in her hair and a happy skip to Sakura's step. Her smiles made their long-awaited reappearance and only the noisy chatter of a crowd could muffle her genuine laughter as it spilled out from her lips - without having to be forced, for the first time in months.

And on days when the Konoha sun burned especially bright and the heat was enough to send civilians back into the comfort of their homes, she bounded outside with an excited glint in her eye, stopping by at lunchtime to leave a flower here and there, before leaving with happy squeals next to a short blonde blur.

* * *

Bounding past the living-room threshold after a day at the Academy, Sakura _glowed_ , smile firmly fixed on her face and mouth babbling a mile a minute about a little boy with _theblackesthairandtheprettiestfaceand wow hiseyes_ -

"You should see him!" she crowed, a dazzling grin lighting up her entire visage. She immediately bit her lip and looked down at her feet in embarrassment.

That was not be the last time her parents would hear of Uchiha Sasuke and his many amazing qualities.

(it was, however, the last time they would see Sakura with that same red ribbon in her hair - now faded from the many hours she spent playing in the sun, and quietly wonder what had happened to it)

* * *

A whirlwind of bright pink raced past the corridor of her family's modest house and jumped out into the street - barely managing to avoid colliding with a couple on a leisurely morning stroll. She swiftly pivoted on one foot, apologies spewing out of her mouth at the speed of the sun, and continued running through the busy Konoha streets.

Spying a suspicious flash of purple, she shot forward even faster, legs trembling, to shorten the distance between herself and the other girl, who, very conspicuously, began to speed up as soon as Sakura had crossed onto the same street.

The two ran at full-speed through the familiar streets and alleyways, with all the reckless abandon of two children with their heads in the clouds and their minds singlehandedly stuffed into their furiously pumping legs. Ino and Sakura raced past the large Academy gates, skidding to a messy stop at the doorway of their classroom in an attempt to push the other out of the way and prove their superiority. Upon their arrival, the wait until Iruka-sensei entered and class seemed to proceed as usual was strangely short. And if it were not for the fact that today's final test would determine who was to graduate, Sakura felt that it would have been a largely average day.

As expected, the class soon lined up to take their final test and things continued to progress without much change - even Naruto's antics weren't particularly original - if as irritating and more perverted than usual.

Instead, she focused on mastering her own nerves and tucking them away into a small corner of her mind. Sakura strived to follow Sasuke-kun's example and look just as cool as he looked _right now - Eeeee!_

She centered herself, and, hearing the sound of her name, walked out to perform her technique and show everyone who doubted her and made fun of her and laughed at all the goals she ever set that she _was_ going to be a ninja - and she would make a _damn_ good one!


End file.
